Some Skittles and a few 100's and 1000's...

Last Friday I had a shoot with one of my favourite models Eve. Eve was starting a new job the following week so this would be her last shoot for awhile unless I can persuade her on a  weekend. Anyway she wanted to do a lingerie shoot and had this concept in mind. I had only done one lingerie shoot before  and that was probably over a  year ago. Luckily our bedroom had been recently repainted...like the day before and my wife is into shabby chic style of furnishings. Eve had her makeup done by Charel Cowan and I have to say it was awesome makeup. Eve had some Skittles and after doing a few shots at the dressing table Eve put 100's and 1000's on her lips and proceded to scatter Skittles on the bed.

For lighting I used two continous lights reflected by silver umbrellas with my flash shot up on to the ceiling. I am very pleased at the outcome of the shoot and have had numerous comments as well as expression of interest by other models in doing something similiar. I think what worked with thsi shoot was I know Eve well, we have worked together numerous times, I took my time and I was able to tweak the lighting alI went. One of my more enjoyable shoots and yes my wife is very understanding. Full gallery here.

Krank Photography Workshops

Taken without permission www.krankphotographyworkshops.com.au

Last night I attended a photo retouching workshop run by Krank Photography Workshops, Photographers Glen Krohn and Deborah Boots are the masterminds behind this enterprise. In March they ran a Mansion shoot and recently a vintage bride shoot. These shoots feature high fashion and they have fashion stylist's, makeup artisits and hair stylists involved. Glen predominately shoots hair and fashion Deborah is more into wedding shooting.

It was an interesting course and as my good friend Cindy said..worth the price just to discover the use of  the Liquify filter to manipulate images. I of course use very little Photoshop and tend to do limited editing in lightroom. I am sure though to create teh edge i need to invest in some photoshop courses.

We all sat with our computers to follow along and must say I was mighty pissed when I open my recently rebuild hard drive laptop to find a very odd message about not locating the hard drive when I fired up my Photoshop Elements 9. I did have my netbook but it is not really designed for editing unless you have a magnifying glass.

One of Glens first tips was to calibrate your monitor and to regularly do this. Glen started about four years ago and said he has self taught his photoshop skills and quickly professed he was no expert...maybe no expert but certainly turns out some fine images. There is no doubt that retouching in fashion is far more intensive and given you work with fewer images it is easy to see how two hours can quickly pass on editing an image. This would not do for say a wedding shooter but certainly worth knowing if you want to enlarge that bride shot say to go on a canvas or large arcylic.

I must say after watching Glenn last night I am starting to view the magazines and adds for comestics, hair etc with a slightly more critical eye. I took copious notes and hope to have a fiddle over the weekend once I sort out my PSE issues. Meantime if Krank Photography run another retouch workshop I suggest you better register you wont regret it.

Photographing Animals..K9 Photography



Diana's "Two Souls" canvas was sold at the Variety Club of Queensland's Heart Art Auction recently.

Anyone who knows me, knows my wife is a mad animal lover. We have two dogs, two cats, 4 cocktail's and a number of budgies. Ever since I have had my camera my wife suggests to me, take a picture of the dogs,the cats...quick take a picture of Cleo, Monty, Zeus....When I return from a shoot she is only interested if I have photos of dogs or cats...not at all interested in the models, the events I go to.... unless it has an animal in it.

Now you often hear that you should never work with animals or children and if the shots I have tried to take of my animals are anything to go by I have the greatest respect for Diana Leventhal of K9 Photography. I met Diana several years ago at a workshop and she was photographing animals back then. I have watched her develop her portfolio over the years and everytime my wife says take a photo of the dogs I sake my head and think nah..couldn't do as good a job as Diana. Why don't you photograph something interesting? Like dogs says my wife. No I say, there is only one Dog photographer..Diana and I could never be as good as her besides I am not natural an animal person.

Yesterday Diana went to the Italian mansion that Krank Photography Workshops used for their Fashion Workshops with an Afghan Hound. Amazing photos once again.  I don't know what her secret is but whenever I want to take a photo of my dogs they want to come up and lick the lens. I decided I don't have the patience so if you want pet photos go to Diana of K9 Photography you will be pleased you did.

Introducing Violet Morphine..

I met Violet about 18 months back when I did a shoot with Beck. This was an Absinthe Fairy theme shoot and from there we have done a few shoots together. Violet is what is called an alternative model and so she tends to be more in the gothic style. She has a large following and once again for a young girl she amazes me with her drive and passion. Violet has recently  been studying make-up and in particular using latex and the like to create special effects. I felt very privileged to be asked by her to photograph her final assignment for her makeup class.

She had a model, Becstacy CreativeModel made up as Tim Burton's Character from the Movie The Corpse Bride.



Here are two images showing Violet's awesome work!

In a few weeks Violet will be off to the USA, well Los Angelos to be exact to do a 12 week course in film and stage make-up, now I cannot remember the name of this school but if I can remember rightly from what Violet tells me doing this course is a pre-requisite to getting work in the Americian Film industry.

I certainly wish her all the best of  luck and sorry to see her leave our shores here but hope she remembers us when she has made it big in Hollywood. Meanwhile I will reflect on some of the images I have captured of her and hope to capture a few more in the future. Good Luck Violet....Au Revior....

Introducing EmmaJane Couture..

EmmaJane in the Middle with Models Apex Student Fashion Display

I first meet Miss EmmaJane at a Off Camera Flash group shoot were she was one of the models. We instantly set up a friendship and a couple more photoshoots ensured and I soon got to know a bit more about EmmaJane. EmmaJane is studying Applied Fashion Design and Technology  at MSIT which has it's campus at Mt Gravatt. EmmaJane has her own label and a webpage EmmaJane Couture.

EmmaJane Couture was started by Miss EmmaJane in 2010 when she began her studies at TAFE. She is currently studying her Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Technology as well as undertaking subjects from the Diploma of Sustainability. She is also a member of the Queensland Spinners Weavers and Fibre Artists as well as the Lace Making Guild and models part time. She enjoys textile manipulation and print design. She classifies herself as an artists and love finding ways to reinterpret traditional crafts. (taken from EmmaJane's website)

So just what is Couture? I went to wikipedia...

Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking"; pronounced: [ot kutyʁ], English pronunciation: /ˌoʊt kuːˈtʊər/) refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Couture is a common abbreviation of haute couture and refers to the same thing in spirit.

In 2009 Miss EmmaJane also entered the Apex Australia Teenage Fashion Awards casual wear category. Placing second at State level, she went through to National level where she did not place. So it was with the Apex Australia Teenage Fashion Awards that I helped out last Saturday when she was invited to show some of her latest work at the National Presidents Changeover. EmmaJane has done a fair bit of modelling as well and has an interesting and diverse portfolio.

EmmaJane through her TAFE Studies recently designed the fabric print and the swimsuits for a collection to go to Billabong as part of her assessment. She organised a professional photoshoot with JnS Photographics and a Video clip was also compiled.

Of course the swimsuit collection was the highlight of the night from the predominately male crowd. EmmaJane quickly admits that her designs are not for everyone and certainly not for mass production. I feel extremely lucky and excited working with such a talented young lady. I am constantly amazed at the people I meet through my photography.

A big shout out should also goes to the make-up assistance and models on the night who did a fantastic job. A few snaps from the night can be found on my website http://www.iconphotos.smugmug.com/.
EmmaJane may be a name to remember in the future.








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